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I am interested in the last name of “Mitoraj”. I do genealogy. My grandfather is John Mitoraj, or Janz (something like that). He came over to the US and sent for his mother who arrived at Ellis Island, but because she could not speak English, and the language barrier, they sent her back to Europe on a boat because they didn’t know where to send her or who to contact. My grandfather had saved a lot of money to bring her over. He never got over that incident.

I don’t know much about Igor Mitoraj at all beyond his being Polish and a sculptor. So the name is Polish, yes? I’d recommend looking for some Polish sites but I imagine you’d have to speak the language first to make use of those.

My grandfather was John J Mitoraj, and his Brother was Kasmir Mitoraj. John Mitoraj settled in Flint,MI. Wife’s name was Sophia, had 6 sons and 1 daughter Valeria. John J Mitoraj came through Ellis Island, was my grandfather.

Igor Mitoraj might be your relative since Osiek is the very next village to Grojec, where Igor .Mitoraj, according to his biography on Wikipedia, spent his childhood and youth. It can’t be a coincidence.

Look at Google map, please how close they are, just around 4 miles:http://tinyurl.com/2bzzzx7
Here you are a translation from Polish Wikipedia.
“Born, during WW2, in 1944 in a German town in the Ore Oederan, as a son of deported Polish forced laborer, and the French Foreign Legion officer, prisoner of war.
After the war, his mother and his son returned to Poland, to her parents. Childhood and youth Igor Mitoraj spent in the village Grojec (near Auschwitz).”

Hope it will help you a little bit.
I’m Polish, so if you’ll have any question, I’ll be more then happy being able to answer.

Hello Martha,
Do you know of a place I can write to in Osiek, or near by, that has birth and death records? I looked at the Ellis Island registration lists and there are a few John (Jan) Joseph Mitorajs’ listed which makes things confusing. If I did my math right my grandfather John J. Mitoraj was approximately 22 yrs old when he came to America. My goal is to find my great grandmother’s birth and death records–Ludvica or Ludowica Mitoraj born about 1864.
Becky :)
My grandfather, John J Mitoray (wife Magdalena/Margaret Wator from Dobrej or Dobra, Krakow), had 4 children: Genevieve M(Jean), Mitchell, William Nicholas, and Wanda Marie. Their oldest child, Andrew, died when he was about 1+ yrs.